Guest reviews Sandals Ochi Beach Resort

by mhunter62 Lawrenceville, GA

Terrible customer service

First of all, I have not stayed at a Sandals resort. I booked a week there back in April for travel in November of this year. I had Sandals book my flight for me. Big mistake. They booked me with Spirit Air which is a whole other review. I receive an email from Spirit Air the first of September stating that my flights had been changed. I would be flying out a day later than originally booked, at 10pm to arrive at a stop over at 2am and then my next flight to Jamaica would the following day. So basically arriving 3 days into my booking with Sandals. It stated in the email that if I had a problem I should contact Sandals directly. Which I did immediately. After going through the recorded gymnastics of being connected to someone who could help I was put on hold for 30 min. When I finally got someone and told them my problem, they said I needed to talk to the flight desk. On hold again for 30 min. Spoke with the flight desk and put on hold numerous times to be told I had to contact Spirit myself and either cancel or change the flight. I asked about dates available that I could change my flight to and was again transferred and put on hold for 30 min. Once I finally got some dates to change my flight, I tried contacting Spirit which was not easy and Sandals had no direct number for me to call.. After looking on line, I determined there were no flights that would work. I called Sandals again to initiate cancellation and was put on and off hold and transferred for at least 3 hours. Was told to call back the next day first thing because they were sure they could get me on a flight for the original date. They cold not. Before I got it all cancelled between airline and resort, I had spent a total of 8 hours. I will NEVER use Sandals or Spirit for travel. I can't imagine what I would go through if I had any trouble during my flights.

by carongoodall West Kelowna, Canada

Awsome as ALWAYS

Second time to this resort, it is amazing. Never crowded when I go in off season. Been butler and concierge service. Both equally handy. But butler...come on, that’s a life long bucket list. You won’t know what I mean till you try it! Concierge do so much for you that you don’t realize the headache unless you’ve just booked “luxury” level. Have someone book all my res’s and excursions...yes please, I’ll be at the pool while you work on that thanks. Non sto food and snacks and booze if you want it.

by x31Katie Aylesbury, United Kingdom

Best first Sandals Vacation

We actually stayed in November 2018 but I am super late writing this! We landed in Jamaica Kingston airport just after 5pm, the flight from the UK took just over 10 hours so we were pretty tired. We waited for our bags, a note on this, there are people wo will try and help you take your bags off and take them to where they need to be. They will also expect a tip. We politely declined and got our bags and went through to find the Sandals arrival lounge. Here we gave our names and sat down for some champagne whilst we waited for our transport. I must say that it was a bit hectic as there were staff telling you to get in line then you’d find out it wasn’t for you so you’d sit back down. Then someone would move your bags and you worried it wasn’t going to the right place. Once this was all sorted, we had to tip the person who took our bags 200 feet from the airport to the back of the Sandals mini bus, so be prepared for that. We had done our research before coming, so we knew that there was about a 2-hour drive to Ochi. The driver spoke about different areas of interest on route but because it was dark it was difficult to make out what we were looking at. The driver asked if we wanted to stop for a toilet break but we all declined and just wanted to get there. We’d booked a Honeymoon Hideaway Luxury Club Level Garden Cottage, with it being club level we were escorted to the private club level lounge where we signed in on ipads and were then taken to our rooms. The Garden Cottage we had was in the most ideal location we could have asked for. We were on the beach side, far enough away from any of the music areas but close enough to be able to walk easily to anything we wanted. The room had a double sink, hair dryer, shower/bath, mini fridge, coffee machine, iron and board, two wall mirrors, one full length mirror and one light up mirror with a magnify mirror, safe, a UK plug socket in the wall, air con and a fan. There was nothing else we could think of that we would have required in the room. It was cleaned daily, and we had a turn down service nearly every evening. The fridge was stocked with the wine and beer and was topped up daily. There is no free rose wine, which is a shame, but you can pay for it if you wanted. We also had a spirit cupboard with Gin, Vodka and other bits. We left little notes of what we wanted in the room for drinks and most of the time they were there when we got back. We had a wonder round the resort, it was pretty late into the night but we found our way easily enough to the beach bar which had late night food overlooking the water. The next day we explored the entire resort, it is huge! The beach side and hill side are separated by a public road. There is a Sandals bus which runs every 5-10 mins and takes you back and forth. We also booked all of our restaurants for the week, the only place that was not open was Valentinos. I have to tell you that the staff here are the best, they are so friendly and accommodating. There are so many pools to choose from, our favourite was on the beach side by Neptunes. This pool had a swim up bar and playmakers. The playmakers are staff who are there to keep you entertained. I was dubious on whether this would be something we would enjoy; I was very wrong. They were excellent. They would dance, play games, sing, laugh and jump around the pool. There were foam parties, music, competitions. Honestly it was the most fun we could have ever wished for. The Rabbit hole is the place to be in the evenings. Get the secret password from staff to get in. There is a stage, seating up and down stairs and a bar. The most amazing singers and service. Get the Moscow Mule to drink! We tried to eat at every restaurant available but given we were only there 10 days there was no way we could do it. Breakfast was at Sky Vista which had a buffet. The bacon is the best! We also managed to have breakfast at the Southern Table on the hillside which served the same. Highlight’s for us was the Sushi bar – this completed exceeded what I would have expected. The French restaurant had the best dinner food by far and the service was second to none. We went to Kimonos, and I was a little disappointed by it. The chef we had seemed to be a stand in, all the other tables had really engaging chefs who were chopping the food and trying to get it into your mouth by throwing it, making big flames and making hearts into the food. Our chef just cooked and left; he really didn’t entertain. The trip to go on is the Dunns River Falls boat trip. Ochi has a dock where the Sandals boat sits and takes you to the falls. Bring water shoes for this, or you can borrow some on the boat for $5 I think! The climb is great and not as scary as you would think. On the way back on the boat you go snorkelling and then are served lunch and then the party starts. There is a DJ, people coming around pouring shots in your mouth and everyone is dancing and taking part. We will never forget that moment. We would like to say a particular thanks to Tariq and Mario who we became friends with. They are an absolute credit to Sandals. We even had lunch with Tariq on our last day and he took us to the bus to say goodbye. Thank you Sandals for making our first holiday together so special.

by ElenaHoskins Canada

GREAT JOB TO THE CHIEF ENGINEER, GENERAL MANAGER AND ENGINEERING TEAM!

I must say a great job in particular to the propertys’ Chief Engineer, General Manager and Engineering Team On the upkeep of the property. In comparison to my visit last year and my most recent visit to a breakfast event last month I must say the property is in much better Condition!!! Keep it up!

by C1731ITmichellem

Unreliable

Due to COVID-19, my husband and I had to check out early and the Front Desk gave me the option to apply 2 nights of our trip towards a new vacation if we booked it immediately. We booked the trip, paid a $250 deposit, and were told the paperwork for the voucher would be provided at checkout the next morning. When we checked out we were told it wasn’t ready and would be mailed to our house in 2 weeks. The voucher never arrived and when contacted, Sandals Customer Service said we had to file a claim through the travel insurance company. Our claim sat for 100 days before being denied. Sandals was contacted again and had no answers for me. They promised to have a resolution in 24-72 hours but it has been over a week and they are non-response to my attempts to contact them. Do not trust this company unless you have everything in writing UPFRONT.